Jotunbane describes the reasoning behind his website like this: “I got tired of ebooks that looked like they were made in a hurry, and since I had the skill set to do something about it, well here we are.” In short, the Reading Club lets you download books that have been cleaned up from their original e-book versions.

If you want dark-web-related news, Flashlight is a great place to get it. There’s a lot of information on Bitcoin, Tor-related projects, and Internet privacy in general. A lot of the news can be found elsewhere, but Flashlight has brought it all together under one banner to serve the needs of deep web enthusiasts.

If you have a question, you can get the answer (or at least a sarcastic response) at Hidden Answers. As a large forum site, HA puts people in contact with other people to exchange information. There are loads of different categories, from drugs and erotica to gainful employment, governments and law, and knowledge and information.

The site is great if you want to get the answers to specific questions, but it’s also a fascinating place to explore: on the deep web, people can ask the questions they want and get honest answers, often on topics that aren’t discussed on the clear web. You never know what you’ll find when you go browsing around Hidden Answers, but you can be sure that it’ll be pretty interesting.

According to the homepage, SIN exists to “provide intelligences, resources and tools to be prepared and to respond to crisis situations anywhere you are in the world. . . . Be prepared for the day you might face abduction, natural disaster, riot or even war.” The site is essentially a repository of useful information that could come in handy in a wide range of different situations.

The library contains files on just about anything you could want: encryptionHow Does Encryption Work, and Is It Really Safe?How Does Encryption Work, and Is It Really Safe?Read More, ham radio, submarine cables, fitness, forensic investigation, blacksmithing, getaway driving, sailing, hunting and trapping, fallout shelter creation, body armor, how to survive falling through ice . . . the list goes on and on. The maps section provides a huge amount of satellite imagery, and the atlas provides situation reports and a ton of information about countries around the world. This is definitely one of my new favorite sites.

AnonInbox was founded on the idea that email should be totally private: “If you have nothing to hide, then use Yahoo and Gmail instead. We believe that your e-mail belongs to you and you only and we can provide solution [sic] for you to achieve this goal.” There are a number of different Tor-based email providers, but AnonInbox is one of the most serious about what they do.

What does it mean? Is it a message to mankind? A philosophical treatise? An extended mathematics exercise? Or just a bunch of drawings thrown together as a pratical joke? Only you can decide.

Scratch the Surface

As you probably know, the deep web is absolutely huge, and there’s a seemingly infinite amount of stuff out there. You just have to know where to find it. These six sites will give you a fun introduction to the dark web and using Tor, and might even inspire you to become a dark web spelunker in your spare time.

What are your favorite deep web sites? What have you found in your travels that’s interesting, unique, or bizarre? Share your favorites below — We’d all love to hear about them!

Well, it's not always easy. DuckDuckGo won't do it. The best way to find dark websites (that I've found, anyway) is to check out reddit.com/r/onions and the Hidden Wiki (http://zqktlwi4fecvo6ri.onion/wiki/index.php/Main_Page). It's not always easy, and sometimes it takes a lot of clicking around on bad links to find a good one for what you're looking for. Ahmia (http://msydqstlz2kzerdg.onion/) is a dark web search engine, but I can't vouch for how effective it is, as I've never used it. Looks pretty useful, though!

Terminology is important. These sites are DARK web sites not "deep web". Technically speaking the dark web is a part of the deep web but that wasn't what you were trying to say. A handy guide:

Surface Web – anything a search engine can find
Deep Web – anything that a search engine can’t find
Dark Web – a small portion of the Deep Web that has been intentionally hidden and is inaccessible through standard web browsers

Thanks, Kannon! I had a lot of fun researching this one . . . it took me a while to figure out how to find stuff on the deep web in the first place, but once I got the hang of it, it was like trying to solve a puzzle. Fun stuff!

No, not less deep, just at little easier to find. You can find links to all of those sites fairly easily on the deep web if you know where to look, anyway. You just need to sort through a lot of bad links to find them!

Dann is a freelance journalist interested in technology, health, and cognitive science. When he's not writing, he's almost certainly playing board or card games (or working on a forthcoming book about them). Follow him on Twitter at @dann_albright.